The Art and Science of Classroom Assessment. The Missing Part of Pedagogy. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report, Volume 27, Number 1.

Brookhart, Susan M.

This report addresses assessment of college student performance. Discussion focuses on why classroom assessment of students' achievement is important; how an instructor can ensure the quality of information from classroom assessments; methods of assessment particularly suited to various achievement targets; how the results of several assessments can be meaningfully combined into one composite grade; ways for faculty to improve assessment skills; and conclusions about assessment from a review of the literature. The report describes five different kinds of learning goals or "achievement targets," and appropriate forms of assessment for each. These learning goals are: (1) knowledge of facts and concepts (recall); (2) thinking, reasoning, and problem solving using one's knowledge; (3) skill in procedures or processes; (4) constructing projects, reports, artwork, or other products; and (5) dispositions, such as appreciating the importance of a discipline. Following an introduction, individual chapters discuss defining student learning for assessment, ensuring the quality of classroom assessment information, options for classroom assessment, assessment in the disciplines, grading, grade distributions and grading policies, and conclusions and further resources. (Contains 76 references.) (DB)